Sword Practice
by artemis-nz
Summary: Wolfram takes it upon himself to teach Yuuri the art of the sword. Yuuri thinks Conrad just might be avoiding him at such times. Conrad/Yuuri.


Yuuri decided that it wasn't so much that Wolfram was a bad teacher. He did after all know exactly what he was talking about; for all his young age, he was no novice with a sword. Rather, it must have been that Yuuri was simply a bad student. Because no matter how many times Wolfram yelled at him to keep his feet further apart or to relax his wrist grip on the hilt, Yuuri just couldn't seem to get the hang of it.

The fact that Wolfram was merciless, not stopping until Yuuri's hands were red and purple and his shoulders, chest and arms a mass of bruises from being hit with the flat of a blade, was not helping either. Wolfram may have been a gentle and loving person deep down, and Yuuri didn't question that Wolfram cared for his fiancée deeply. It was just that sword fighting didn't bring those particular feelings to the surface incredibly well.

Yuuri decided he needed some help.

Conrad proved inexplicably hard to track down at such times. It was odd that the older male was so hard to find when at most other times Conrad was like a shadow; always a close yet discreet presence at Yuuri's back. Yet whenever Yuuri sought Conrad out to help with sword practice, Conrad did a disappearing act, not surfacing until Yuuri was once more busy with some other activity devised most often by Gunter.

For a while Yuuri considered asking him to help. Gunter was after all known to be one of the finest swordsmen in all of the Demon Kingdom - and with nearly every man in the kingdom owning or having owned a sword at least once in their life, this was no mean feat. Still, something sparkled in Gunter's eyes that warned Yuuri off. He had no doubt that Gunter would have taken up the offer without a seconds hesitation... but somehow, with Gunter being such an enthusiastic teacher when it came to such things as history and politics, Yuuri also had no doubt that Gunter would have been a teacher twice as ruthless than Wolfram. There was an almost manic gleam in Gunter's eyes at times, and on second thought Yuuri thought it unwise to encourage this.

Gwendal was out of the question. If Wolfram was merciless when it came to Yuuri's sword form, and if Gunter would have been just a little _too_ intense, Gwendal would have been... Yuuri thought of several words, and none of them seemed to sum it up quite right. 'Scary' was the closest he came. If he had been thinking seriously about asking the often harried-looking Gwendal for some one-on-one sword coaching, he thought again when he caught sight of the dark-haired noble's eye twitching ever so slightly whenever he felt too stressed. If Anissina could cause that facial expression, Yuuri didn't want to imagine the consequences his sword fighting technique would cause if Gwendal was to catch sight of it.

Yuuri ran right alongside Gwendal when Anissina happened to catch sight of yet another training session by Wolfram and suggested she bring out her latest and greatest machine that would, she claimed, miraculously correct his sword strokes. Yuuri couldn't believe he'd had such a lapse in sanity that he'd thought for one moment of asking Anissina's help. Not that he had anything but respect for the occupants of the Castle, but he also felt that with Wolfram still taking up the post of teacher, his life was endangered enough as it was.

Things finally came to a head when Wolfram - accidentally, to his credit - forced Yuuri into yet another pond. Soaking wet and wishing he had stayed in bed a little longer that morning, Yuuri let Wolfram's insults wash over him along with the water. When Wolfram finally gave up on listing all the ways that Yuuri was a wimp and stomped off to fume alone, Yuuri got out of the pond, pulling the leaves from his shoes and feeling his hair dry quickly in the sun. Instead of trying to find Conrad who he knew would again be taken up elsewhere, he went to find Lady Celi.

"My, what's the matter Your Majesty?" Lady Celi gestured expansively, as usual showing off her cleavage to best advantage. Studiously looking elsewhere, Yuuri tried to explain the situation. It wasn't easy when he wasn't sure what the situation was, and Lady Celi listened to his first awkward sentences about arm bruising and Gwendal's eye twitching before pulling him to her and hugging him, effectively stopping his stuttering attempts at speech. Yuuri felt himself go red before he was let go.

"But you need to see Conrart!" she exclaimed. Yuuri wasn't sure how she had come to such a solution without him even mentioning Conrad's name, but was grateful nonetheless that she had perceived the problem so quickly.

"My son is the best swordsmen in the Kingdom", said Lady Celi firmly. "Of course he must teach you how to wield one properly. Why don't you find him and ask?"

"I _did_ try to find him at first", Yuuri admitted. His face did not lose its flush. "But I think he might have been avoiding me whenever I was doing sword fighting practice with Wolfram. I can never find him to ask him, and whenever I do see him I'm always busy with lessons."

"Oh? That's unlike him... and he always makes sure he's close to you at all other times too..." For some reason Lady Celi gave a wide smile, scarlet lips sparkling. "You know, I'm sure he's not avoiding you unless of course it was for a very good reason. My Conrad's a good boy", she finished. "And so handsome too", she added as an afterthought. Yuuri thought it might sound odd to agree, and said nothing.

"Well, what do you think I should do? I know he must be really busy with other stuff apart from following me everywhere and I don't want to be any bother-"

"Of course not, of course not!" Lady Celi cried. "You're never a bother to Conrart, I can tell by the way he looks at you." She looked slyly at Yuuri. "Your Majesty, I could always talk to him if you'd like-"

-"No. That is, I really don't think you need to", Yuuri hurried. "No, I'm sure it'll all work out. Wolfram's not a bad teacher..." He backed out of the room as he spoke, inching towards the fresh air out in the corridor. The clouds of perfume could practically be seen in Lady Celi's room, and he quickened his pace.

"Thanks for listening, and sorry for bothering you!" He turned on his heel and set out at a not-very Kingly pace, ignoring Lady Celi's intonations behind him.

What Yuuri hadn't counted on was literally walking into Conrad on the way back outside. His rapid pace ensured that both of them fell down the stairs, Conrad's arms folding protectively over Yuuri as they landed on the cool stone.

"Your Majesty, are you all right?" Conrad pulled Yuuri up and looked him over, making sure his young charge was not hurt. Conrad's appearance was impeccable, as usual.

"I'm fine. Call me Yuuri." And then, because Conrad was finally standing right there, he blurted out what he was thinking. "Have you been avoiding me?"

"A little", Conrad admitted. Yuuri only looked at him, and Conrad inwardly sighed. "Does this perhaps have something to do with Wolfram?"

Yuuri marveled at the way Conrad seemed to know his mind.

"Sort of", he replied. "Its just... I've got all these bruises on my arms. Because I'm a bad student." He mumbled the last, knowing it to be true.

"You're not a bad student, Your- Yuuri. Its just that some people's teaching styles... they don't necessarily fit everyone. Wolfram has proved that he knows what he's doing and that he is capable of showing others what to do, in this case with a sword. How he teaches just doesn't appear to work extremely well with you, that's all. Or at least, not yet. Wolfram is used to teaching people who are already competent with the sword and who want or need to improve. You are still a beginner, and so Wolfram loses his patience somewhat easily."

When Conrad put it like that it sounded so simple. Yuuri hung his head.

"So... why have you been avoiding me? Are you tired of looking after me all the time?"

"No." Conrad's voice was warm. "Honestly Yuuri, I was letting Wolfram teach you because I thought it was his time to be with you. At other times of the day you and he are both busy with separate duties. I wanted him to feel like he was able to spend time with you. Because as he keeps reminding the rest of us, he is your fiancée. I think its admirable that he wants to take his own time and use it to better your ability with the sword."

"Oh." Still Yuuri shuffled his feet, not entirely convinced. He had been training under Wolfram's critical eye for weeks, and seemed to become worse if anything.

"If you'd like additional coaching however..."

Yuuri looked up, hope in his eyes. He was suddenly very, very sure that Conrad's teaching style would be easier to follow. "Will you, Conrad? Help me out I mean? I understand if you're busy and I don't want to take up so much of your time-"

Conrad put a reassuring hand on Yuuri's shoulder. "It would be my pleasure", he said gravely. "Why don't we meet after dinner when its cooler, and we can go over the basics."

Thus later on in in the hours of the evening when activity was beginning to wind down for the day, Yuuri found himself being coached by Conrad. Conrad never let Yuuri practice long enough so that his body would suffer overmuch for it in the morning when it was time for Yuuri's additional practice with Wolfram. Conrad also seemed to have a knack for giving Yuuri a quiet instruction and then explanation as to why it was so. The instruction for Yuuri to keep his feet further apart was backed up when Conrad also explained that this would widen his support and give Yuuri more balance - a fact that painfully obvious once Yuuri heard it but somehow served to make him remember it.

Two weeks later, Wolfram announced that after all even wimps were able to pick up at least the bare basics of sword fighting. From behind the doorway where he kept silent watch, Conrad said not a thing.


End file.
